Close Enough
by Shaddy-pink
Summary: When Gaara seems reluctant to finally sleep, his siblings figure out a way for him to do so.


A/N: So, there are TONS of spoilers about Gaara in this fic since our favourite puppet-master is basically telling the whole Gaara-story from his point of view. If I get a couple of details wrong, please tell me (nicely) and I'll be sure fix them right away. Happy reading!

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Temari slowly opened the door, letting the nostalgic scents of the building waft outside. They were home again, with a very much alive Gaara in tow. The young Kazekage walked into the dwelling, like it was the first time he stepped within the walls. He didn't FEEL any different, now that he wasn't hosting Shukaku within his body, but it still was a new revelation for him anyhow.

Kankurou checked the clock that was hanging on the wall. It was just striking eleven.

"I guess we should turn in." Kankurou said with a yawn. "I'm bushed."

"Sounds like a good idea." Temari agreed. "We need to get up early for a meeting with the elders anyway."

Gaara just crossed his arms with an inexpressive "Hn."

Temari gave a small smile. "You can sleep as well, Gaara. There's nothing stopping you."

Gaara gave his usual stoic response, and walked towards his old room. Old habits die hard, even if he did have a more positive outlook on life.

The other siblings shrugged, bade each other goodnight, and walked towards their own rooms.

Gaara couldn't sleep. He just didn't want to. He could force sleep on himself, but the elders said it could be harmful due to his predicament. After a few moments of pacing back and forth, he decided to walk around the building, eventually making it to his parents' old room.

No good memories lay there, but for some reason, he was drawn to it. He sat on the edge of their bed, utterly confused, and another feeling he just couldn't seem to comprehend.

"Gaara?" asked a light voice from outside the door. "Are you here?"

"Yes." Gaara replied.

The door creaked open and his older siblings entered. Kankuro in flannel pyjamas and no face paint, and Temari in a nightgown.

"Hey what's up?" Kankurou asked. "We heard you walking around."

"I'm fine." Gaara muttered monotonously.

Kankurou blinked. "Okay, then." he was about to walk out, when Temari put a firm grip on his arm.

"Do you want some company?" Temari asked Gaara as gently as she could.

"What? Gaara doesn't need any-" he stopped in mid-sentence. It was for maybe a second, but Kankurou was positive he saw a set of new emotions flash through he brothers eyes. They were emotions of insecurity, of need, and strangely enough, of fear. His eyes widened in understanding.

He walked over to his brother, who had his back turned towards his older siblings with indifference, but his eyes had already betrayed what he was really feeling.

"You're scared, aren't you?" Kankurou murmured, placing a cautious hand on his brother's shoulder.

Gaara snorted incredulously, but didn't move.

Kankurou pressed on. "It's okay if you are, since it's just a human emotion. I can also tell why. You still feel vulnerable that if you try to sleep, something bad will happen. Shukaku made sure of that before."

Temari stared in wonderment. She knew that the two brothers had gotten closer over the last three years, but was Kankurou already that in-tune? Temari had a lot of catching up to do.

Gaara said nothing, but slowly climbed into his parents' old bed, hunched over in shame and denial.

Temari and Kankurou sighed and slipped in as well, Kankurou on the right side of his little brother, and Temari on the left.

"We won't let anything happen to you." Kankurou declared. "Cause we're gonna be right here."

Temari nodded in agreement.

"...So... what now?" Kankurou asked.

Temari slapped her forehead in exasperation.

"I want to hear a story."

Both siblings looked at Gaara in surprise.

"I heard it helps people fall asleep, so I want one of you to tell me one... please."

Temari and Kankurou didn't know what was more surprising: The fact the Gaara, in his own way, asked for a bedtime story, or that he said the word "please".

"Well... I guess I could..." Temari started, but Kankurou raised his hand, interrupting.

"First of all, you have no creative talent. Secondly, I have a story that would be perfect."

Temari crossed her arms. "Okay Mister Ali-babba-and-the-one-thousand-desert-tales, spin us your 'oh-so-perfect' yarn."

Kankurou stuck out his tongue. "Okay... once upon a time, there once was a boy from Suna named... um... Jaara. He had two siblings, an older brother named... Sankurou and an older sister named... Lemari."

Temari whipped a pillow that just barely missed Gaara, but managed to hit Kankurou square in the face. "And I'M the one with no creative talent?"

"Oh be quiet! You want to hear the story or not." Kankurou took this time to take a quick glance at his little brother. He looked expressionless, but Kankurou could see a hint of amusement in his eyes.

"Jaara was born into the family of the Kazekage, an event that was both joyous, but at the time, tragic."

Temari's eyes widened. There was no way he could tell THAT story.

Gaara didn't react. He just silently insisted Kankurou to keep going. He knew it was all from the past, well Jaara's past anyway.

Kankurou nodded and continued. "Jaara was born with a monster inside him that was known as Shukaku. The person that put the monster in him was a bigger monster. The Kazekage himself: Jaara, Sankurou, and Lemari's father. He thought he could use Jaara as a weapon for Suna, but it came at a huge price. Jaara's mother had perished in the process, who was obviously Sankurou's and Lemari's mother as well."

Kankurou took a breath.

"Lemari and Sankurou were too young to understand that their mother died because of the monster put in Jaara, so they loved and watched over their little brother as if nothing happened. But something did happen. Their father took Lemari and Sankurou away from Jaara and told them that their little brother was a monster and would eventually kill people. Lemari and Sankurou didn't want to believe that their little brother was a monster. They couldn't. They yelled at their father and begged him to let them see their baby brother, but he didn't budge. Eventually they learned to hate and fear Jaara as well, but a small part of them would always believe that Jaara was still their little brother and would never hurt them."

Kankurou was gripping the sheets so hard that his knuckles were turning white. He slowly relaxed his hands and continued.

"Jaara, and Lemari and Sankurou grew up apart from each other, until the older siblings finally got to see their younger brother again for ninja training. Lemari's hatred seemed to have diminished and was replaced with fear, but Sankurou couldn't seem to let go all his hostile feelings. He hated fearing his little brother, because he didn't want Jaara to have control over him. Both of them just didn't want to hate or be afraid, but too much had happened between them over the years."

"So they trained together, and learned to co-operate, maybe not as a family, but as team-mates. They became Genin, completing difficult missions, and soon they went to Konoha to participate in the Chunnin exam."

"They got through the first two parts of the exam easily enough, but the third part of the exam had many complications, especially for Jaara."

Temari and Gaara had both shuffled a little closer, both keen on hearing the rest of the story, all though Temari showed it outwardly.

"In the preliminaries, Lemari and Sankurou defeated their opponents quite easily, and they assumed that Jaara would do the same thing, but it wasn't so. Jaara's opponent was a powerful Taijutsu master, whose speed could outclass Jaara's sand protection. For the first time in their lives, Lemari and Sankurou were worried about their brother. Eventually, Jaara won, but at a great cost."

"In the finals, Jaara, Lemari, and Sankurou were getting prepared for the attack against Konoha. Lemari battled and won by default, and Sankurou had to forfeit in order to avoid revealing his techniques, since Jaara's battle was supposed to be before his brother's, and also the beginning of the attack. Eventually, Jaara battled his opponent but was left severely wounded. Lemari and Sankurou fled with their unconscious brother, but there were other ninja following in hot pursuit. Sankurou soon had to give Jaara to her sister so he could hold off the Sharingan-user while his siblings escaped. He got away, unfortunately, when an insect-user challenged Sankurou. Both of the battled, but Sankurou lost when his chakra was eaten because of the insects."

"Sankurou wasn't sure what happened after that, but when he caught up with Lemari, they found their brother completely battle-worn from fighting with the Kyuubi host. Lemari and Sankurou would have finished the boy off, but Jaara told them not to. Surprised, they listened to their brother and went off. Then Jaara said something that Lemari and Sankurou would never forget. Two simple words that they've always wanted to hear, but it came so suddenly that they were both too shocked to realise it."

Kankurou looked at his siblings and gave a small smile.

"Those two words were 'I'm sorry.' "

Gaara smirked slightly.

"Ever since then, things went a lot smoother for those Suna siblings." Kankurou continued. "They came back to Konoha later, to help defend their allies against the sound ninja, and Jaara became the next Kazekage."

Temari ruffled Gaara's hair. "I bet Jaara's doing one heck of a job as well."

"What Sankurou was happiest about, however, was the fact that he and Jaara were a lot closer than before. Sankurou no longer feared his little brother and all feelings of hostility vanished. Jaara had also began telling Sankurou his dreams and whatever else was on his mind, which made Sankuro realise that after all those years he finally had his little brother back. The one he always knew was there. One day the Akatsuki captured Jaara because they wanted to control the demon that dwelled within him. Sankurou was furious when he found out. He even went to the Akatsuki by himself to rescue Jaara but..."

Kankuro bit his lip.

"He failed. He lost a fight against another puppet user and was almost killed in the process. All Sankurou could do after that was ask his allies from Konoha to bring his brother back while he was recovering."

"Kankurou..." Gaara breathed softly, not even bothering to hide the fact that he was stunned and quite touched. Did his, or in this case, Jaara's brother really go through all that? Just to save him, well, Jaara?

Kankurou raised his head and gave his siblings a comforting smile.

"In the end though, the demon was extracted, but Jaara was saved, and his siblings couldn't have been happier. And-"

Kankurou stopped when he felt a gentle thud on his shoulder. He looked over and saw Gaara, eyes closed, and breathing lightly. The puppet user sighed in relief and happiness.

"He's asleep." he whispered simply to his sister.

"Well I can see that." she replied with a bit of sarcasm, although Kankurou could see traces of moisture in her eyes.

In a rare feeling of affection, Kankurou wrapped an arm around his brother and gently pulled him closer so his head could rest more comfortably in the crook of his neck.

"And Jaara would be a great Kazekage. He would lead his people into prosperity, with Sankurou and Lemari as his top advisors. He would find a drop-dead gorgeous Suna girl, get married, and have kids, with his siblings spoiling them rotten..."

With a final yawn, Kankuro nodded off, resting his head on top of Gaara's.

Temari looked over at her two slumbering brothers and chuckled quietly. Draping the blanket around them, Temari shuffled over to nestle beside her red-headed brother. In his ear she whispered "Even if this wasn't happily ever after for Jaara, Lemari, and Sankuro, it was close enough for them."

A peaceful silence fell over Sunagakure.

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All I want for Christmas is a revieeeewwwww! (Or two, or three, etc.)


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